Portmanteau Suitcase

On Sunday, I went to a local apartment complex for an outdoor fitness class. SMS took a pass since he’s still nurturing his shoulder back to full health. I had heard about the class the day before when we were touring the complex.

For the past several months, SMS and I have been debating the rent vs. buy conundrum. I know. So original. But this past year has been pretty mind-blowing with mortgage rates and if you don’t know this: 1. congratulations on already owning your house and 2. I hate you. Haha, I kid. I don’t. Wait, I do!

On top of popping interest rates, house prices in the Bay Area are exorbitant. This is not new, but with both the price and the interest being high, we were doing a lot of mental contortions to try to make sense of it all. And it was stressful. And super-circular in our discussions, which became really draining from a mental energy perspective.

One thing that really helped me figure out what to do is to identify the “wasted money” in each situation. In renting, people talk about “throwing your money” away since you are not spending your rent on a personally owned asset. You are buying the roof over your head for the month, so that’s pretty tangible but still, it’s not something owned by the renter. I’ve definitely known about this concept since I’ve rented my entire adult life.

But there is also wasted money in owning due to interest payments. That is money I’ll never see again and adds significantly to the total cost of the house over the mortgage term. Conceptually, I had realized that but when I looked at SMS’ financial spreadsheets, I was amazed at how much money that was each month. It is a lot money, much more than rent at this current time. I mean, I had known about the idea of rent to buy calculators to help a person make the decision, but seeing real numbers in terms of house prices we were considering was illuminating.

Also, I’ve been a little hesitant in taking on that much debt since one of the big reasons I went into the military was to avoid taking on ~$250k of medical school debt. So, to take on a debt burden that is a lot greater gives me significant pause.

All this to say, we feel pretty certain that renting is still the best option for us. The complex we’re considering is quite nice and I think it will be a fun place to live. I’m hoping for a bit of the social experience we had when we lived in another nice complex at the start of our Northern CA time in 2015. We lived in Mountain View at that time and had really interesting neighbors that were pretty easy to meet.

So, where’s the hike? Getting to it! After a morning of a workout followed by a ridiculously-sized smoothie that was delicious and free(!), I did a few hours of computer work. Then, SMS and I decided we needed some sunshine so we hiked the Arastradero loop in a nearby foothills preserve. It is really beautiful with a lot of golden dried grass that looks great in the late afternoon sun.

Today my main post is my Yellowstone Day 1: Southern Loop post. I backdated it to July to keep the trip sequence in order, but I’m counting it in my November blog streak.

I don’t have a big trip lined up anytime soon. I’m going to San Diego for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m off to Hawaii for a conference followed by a few extra days of vacation in February. But after that, no big plans. If I build up my vacation days steadily, maybe a Fall 2023 trip would work. In the United States, I would love to do a New England trip that would include Western Massachusetts and Maine, especially Bar Harbor and Acadia. This would be pretty spectacular during Fall foliage season. In Europe, I would like to visit the Benalux, especially the Netherlands; Normandy; Alsace; and Croatia. I wouldn’t plan on all of these areas in one trip- they’re just on the top of my list of places to go.

Overall though, I’m not in a real travel-plan frame of mind although I love looking back on my trips. I started this blog to track my travel and trips, which has been really helpful over the years as a memory jog. I have looked back on Japan posts for recommendations. I used my old Switzerland posts to help with my trip this past Summer. I really like having the trips live more vividly in my mind by having this resource.

I enjoy a good brunch. When I was in residency, I would go out semi-regularly with a great group of girl friends. I feel like brunch used to be more of a thing, but given the abundance of cute restaurants with fancy drinks and over-priced food that doesn’t save particularly well, I think it may just be me and brunch, is in fact, still very popular.

As for food that doesn’t save very well, I think breakfast food is very difficult to salvage from a to-go box. I will eat dinner leftovers all day long, but soggy & stale pancakes and waffles, no way. Eggs? An even harder no. And finally, how would you even transport an Egg Benedict in any way that did not transform it into looking like it had already undergone digestion? Come to my blog for the entertainment, leave with the impossible to answer questions.

If you would like to know my go-to recipe for a hosted brunch, I recommend overnight-soaked baked caramelized French Toast. My Mom has a great Southern Living recipe, which I can’t find but this one is close. The original one is a little simpler and focuses purely on the sugar, but the nuts, maple syrup, and bourbon in the linked recipe sound good. The recipe is great because it is make-ahead so you can mingle with your guests. Your house will also smell delicious.

If you want a more in-the-moment recipe, I’m a fan of ricotta pancakes.

But what I love about brunch are the drinks! Above, I present to you the holy brunch trifecta: water, coffee, and a Bloody Mary. In the alcohol category, a mimosa comes in second place but only if the sparkling wine:orange juice ratio is very, very high. I had a corpse reviver #2 in New Orleans. While it was delicious, the drink, like NOLA, was intense!

Finally, blog admin note. I’m trying to lay off the parentheticals & parenthesis and, instead, have gone crazy on the commas. Paging Strunk & White: help!

I’m thankful that my head is attached to my body. OMG. Today, in my latest bad habit, I left my loupes in the OR which is the equivalent of leaving a thousand dollar bill lying around. Granted, that’s an improvement on yesterday’s laptop misplacement and this thousand dollar bill is highly customized to my inter-pupillary distance but still, the madness needs to stop!

I did feel slightly better in that right under my loupe box was the scrub nurse’s expensive tablet that he had misplaced. But only a little bit better.

Elisabeth had a recommendation for a laptop bag that looks quite nice. But you know what I need more? My large lumbar pack I wore during my ski patrol days. It was like a really large fanny pack that went across the lower back. It had lots of compartments for the first aid supplies. If I embraced this bag, it would also indicate I’m truly in middle age since it would be a pure embrace of function over aesthetics.

Also, I wouldn’t be allowed to bring it into the OR. So that wouldn’t solve the loupe box problem. Maybe I need a system of tethers and attachments so if I forget something, it will simply trail behind me like a bunch of cans attached to a newlywed couple’s car.

So, my bag situation has been annoying me lately. I use a sac-style leather bag most days with everything jumbled at the bottom. Without the fail, the item I am looking for will be the last thing I find. In addition, something I definitely do not want will be jumping into my hand saying, “Me, me!” I bought a bag organizer awhile ago- an inexpensive $10 nylon divider bag from Amazon which seems reasonable but has been used only a handful of times.

So, today, I switched to a handbag so I could walk around without my laptop weighing me down. Which meant I carried my laptop around like a folder. Are you getting a sense of foreboding? Because you should.

So, after a morning of making office calls to potential referring physicians and an afternoon clinic, I went to the grocery store with my co-worker. Yes, it’s been featured before! That’s right, it’s the grocery store bar! We grabbed a beer and listened to the drama of a grocery store bar. Apparently, there are weirdos who come to it and it’s not always empty. We learned this from the 20 and a half year old who was at the bar asking his manager/bartender Mom to serve him a beer. She said no, but they were very funny. Among other strange people, there was a regular who would come in the afternoon, take control of the remote, and watch her soap operas. She stopped coming after they stopped letting her hold the remote and made a policy that only TV sports were allowed.

But then, near disaster happened. I went to pick up a roast chicken and veggies for dinner. As I was walking out of the store, I realized I had my chicken, my veggies, my handbag…and no laptop. I rushed back inside and, no luck, it wasn’t there.

I felt so dumb. Yes, I had a beer, but it was a pretty low alcohol pilsner. I just had too many things to track and had deviated from my normal bag routine. I was so bummed out and felt really dumb. I left my number in case it turned up and headed home, very sad. I was an exceptionally yield-y driver, trying to generate good karma in the hopes it would pay off.

Well. A half hour later I got a call, it had been found! SMS and I drove to the grocery store where my new BFF had locked the computer away and gave it to me. I tried to give her a tip but she refused. I get it. I’ve had people try to tip before after doing something nice, but I’ve never taken it. But I at least wanted to try. You know, like a reward listed on a poster.

So now, I’m not going to hand-carry something very important and expensive. Into the bag it goes! Along with everything else, hiding away at the bottom.

‘Tis the season…to get distracted from the main mission of buying presents for others and buying presents for meeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

But in preparation for this post, I looked at Martha Stewart’s Gift Guide email, which is basically great stuff you can buy from her merchandise. Does anyone remember when she was sentenced to jail and stores were having fire sales of her branded merchandise? It was probably high-quality, but I had enough at the time and didn’t stock up. And now? Martha’s back (and has been for a long time).

But then I noticed she has CBD gummies. Actually, I already knew this because I read the NYTimes profile of Martha Stewart, which talks about her thirst trap IG photos and her CBD gummies. It’s a pretty hilarious article. I think Martha Stewart is in on the joke. All the way to the bank.

AND! Mike Tyson has CBD gummies shaped like an ear with a bite out of it, aka Evander Holyfield who actually agreed to team up with him. Jeez, that’s a powerful level of forgiveness.

I have known CBD gummies were a thing, but I am very impressed with the pop culture tie-ins. Honestly, I haven’t done a lot of critical evaluation re: CBD. I feel like there’s so much pseudo-science and placebo effects gimmicks out there that I just can’t spend time researching another one. I’ve heard they’re great for sleep, but my woo-woo approach to sleep involves sleep meditations and yoga nidra. They both really work! But when I recommend to patients, I usually get an eyeroll. Or they try it once with a bad attitude so of course it doesn’t help.

I usually fall asleep within 3 minutes of my head hitting the pillow to the chagrin of my Oura ring. The only time I need some help is during times of transition and stress. During those times, sleep meditations are the best. I really like Anna Greenberg through the Peloton app. My favorite yoga nidra link is here, a free audio file about 20 minutes long, I think. I really have never reached the end of it.

That’s it for a very tangential post. Time for a nap.

I feel very grateful for my good health, although my slightly superstitious nature is now worried about a bus that is surely going to hit me! I’ve never broken a bone, never gotten Strep throat, and overall, have a pretty strong immune system. I am super grateful to live in a time of long life expectancies with accompanying knowledge on how to optimize healthy living: enough sleep, exercise, mobility/stretching, healthy food choices, and stress management. Of course, I have room to improve but I feel like the foundation is there.

My gratitude is even deeper because of the work I do. Life is pretty capricious, so I will take my good health for as long as it lasts. I certainly see people who have shifts that they never saw coming and it is life-changing in a way that people rarely ask for and rarely want.

Since I’ve started working in non-military medicine, the patient population has a much larger prevalence of serious medical conditions. This makes complete sense since the military consists of young-to-middle age adults who are pretty healthy. Military medicine exists to take care of those who become ill or injured but even when this happens, it tends to be in the context of one problem within an overall healthy individual. Outside of military medicine, the population is older and may have multiple medical conditions. It’s a challenge and an honor to take care of all patients and with the changing populations, it’s an engaging professional challenge and experience.

I’ve really enjoyed my time at a large academic hospital. Sometimes moments can get a little dicey, other times it’s completely smooth. Sometimes my scrubs are clean at the end of the day, sometimes I really need to change and shower (and I do!). I really enjoy the teamwork and collegiality of multi-disciplinary care. I work with so many smart, interesting people and it’s fun to collaborate and learn from them.

Alright, this entry is a little overly effusive, but I wanted a slight change from the brief, daily calendar type entries I’ve been writing. I’m really looking forward to the weekend and catching up on travelogues but that’ll come in a few more days!

After an amazing long weekend, it was back to work! I think a long weekend is the perfect amount of time to be away. It was a treat to be away on a workday, but I wasn’t crushed by emails and to-do’s the second I got back. I am a little crushed with paperwork at the end of the day, but I will catch up tomorrow. [Cue eyeroll. As you can see, still working on the keeping up with notes during clinic goal!]

Today, I had a photoshoot for a work headshot. I definitely get a little “freeze-y” in front of the camera, but the pictures turned out nicely. I had SMS help me pick up the ones to choose. He’s taken lots of photos and has a good eye, while I sometimes pick out pictures that are not as great.

Well, short and sweet “today.” I’m a day behind in posts, but later in the week is more open so I can start to tackle my November blog goal of not only posting daily, but finishing up my catch-up posts from late Summer/early Fall travels.

We had the nicest Saturday with my family. Everyone came over to our hotel and we set up a good ol’ fashioned chair circle on the beach. It always cracks me up because I still clearly remember what I thought as a child, “How can adults just sit there for hours?!?! They’re so boring!” Well, Tierney-kid, the answer is beer.

We did go in the ocean though! I’m always a little braver when I’m with a group. One, I somehow feel there’s a group invincibility and, should that fail, there’s a slightly reduced chance that’ll be me who gets eaten by the shark.

After a great afternoon that got progressively more cloudy but no rain, Mom and Dad had to go to the airport. The rest of us went to Juana’s Pagodas. We grabbed a drink in the sand floor bar, which was cool. Then we headed over to Joe’s for a very graze-y leftovers dinner.

Then, SMS and I said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel. Ed was heading back early in the morning and SMS and I decided that we would explore on our own. It was really nice to see my family, minus my sister who I need to make plans to see sometime soon. I miss her!